Life on the Homestead

The work of a homestead varies as frequently and dramatically as our Vermont weather. Though our work is always changing, we seek to pattern our lives on the Benedictine rhythm of work, study and prayer. We are slowly learning how to live into this rhythm within the context of married and family life!

We have learned the most important thing we can do toward this end is to stay home - to literally “stead at home.” One of the key commitments in the Rule of Saint Benedict is “stability of life” - to commit to a physical place and the work of prayer, study, and labor that place supports. We are discovering firsthand the wisdom of this commitment and the gift this stability is for us, our guests and a world traumatized by displacement.

The Way of Saint Benedict

We have chosen to orient our shared life around the Benedictine way of following Christ – with its pillars of daily prayer, work by the labor of our hands, and study and growth in the life of body, soul and spirit.  Our hope is that this way of life can be an offering of peace, however small, to a world in tumult.  We envision ours as a working experiment of family life lived with simplicity, stewardship, and spiritual abundance that provides a joyful alternative to the dominant culture of consumerism and isolation.

In the future, we envision sharing this way with other couples, families, and singles in community life.  We also envision expanding our retreat offerings into a residential school of Christian transformation, where we work together with students to recover, teach, and live the full richness of the Christian contemplative path.

A Typical Day

7:00am Lauds Prayer; Followed by breakfast

—Work or Study—

10am Terce Prayer

—Work—

12:30pm Sext Prayer; Followed by lunch

—Work—

3:00pm None Prayer

—Work or Study—

Between 5:30pm & 6:30 Vespers Prayer; Followed by Dinner

Evening activity/leisure

9:00pm Compline Prayer